Lancaster, MO
Lancaster, MO's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Lancaster lands at the 75th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 578 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Lancaster's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 77th percentile nationally.
Lancaster's building exposure, zone by zone
63.8% of Lancaster's 578 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 36.2% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Lancaster ranks
Lancaster's 91st-percentile standing inside Missouri outpaces its 75th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lancaster ranks 7,822 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,131 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 93 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Lancaster
Lancaster's 75th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Lancaster's 63.8% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Lancaster's 7,822-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Lancaster, see the exposure-zones guide.